New choir director has passion for worship
By Melissa Rollins, Editor, editor@newsandpress.net
Darlington Presbyterian Church recently hired a new choir director and she is already off and running in her new position.
Dr. Teresa Irwin said that she has a passion for worship and a desire to serve in a place that understands the importance of the Bible.
“I was looking for a place to serve and wanted to be in a church where, first and foremost, the pastor preached from the scriptures, and he does here,” Irwin said. “When I was talking to the committee and asked them what they loved about the church, that was one thing they said: the Word of God is being preached here.”
Dr. Teresa Irwin
Photo By Melissa Rollins
Irwin said that worship is an innate part of everyone.
“I love worship; we were created to worship God,” Irwin said. “I wanted to be in a place that honored that. I found a church that wants to honor the Lord through worship and worship him the way he is described in scriptures, as best we can. I know that we are fallible but he deserves our worship.”
Having been involved with music from a young age, Irwin said that she believes God placed that love inside of her.
“I would say that God led me to music because I do believe in Provence and I do believe God puts things before us that are out of our control,” Irwin said. “I was raised in the church and was in Cherub choirs and in third grade started taking piano lessons. I became a skilled pianist and just felt led from there to major in music in college.”
Though she was not raised in the tradition, Irwin has been a Presbyterian for over ten years. She said that the theology and the deep study of Word of God was attractive to her and that she found that same strong foundation at Darlington Presbyterian.
Though she is only a month in to her position, Irwin is already looking for ways to connect to the community.
“I am very interested in being part of the community,” Irwin said. “I love the arts and this would be a great venue for the arts; I would love to see an artist series here.”
The choir community is strong in the area, Irwin said, as exhibited on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
“I was at the Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration and it was amazing,” Irwin said. “They had some unbelievable gospel choirs; you could see all of the choirs supporting each other. There was some amazing worship going on.”
Currently, the adult choir at Darlington Presbyterian has between 20 and 25 people. The church also has a youth and a children’s choir.
“I’m trying to start with the basics, working with them on reading notes and rhythm,” Irwin said. “It is music education as well as worship and singing and performing. We are learning how to sing and not scream; screaming is real easy but singing isn’t. The kids are having a blast.”
Building on what is already established, she wants to see growth in the choirs at her church.
“We really want to grow and have magnificent worship services that honor the Lord,” she said.
